JP2002509367A - Cleaning / buffing polishing equipment used in wafer processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A semiconductor wafer processing system such as a system for simultaneously buffing or scrubbing both surfaces of a wafer is provided. A semiconductor wafer processing system, such as a system for simultaneously buffing or scrubbing both sides of a wafer, for positioning a processing box for use with a chemical solution and a semiconductor substrate or another similar semiconductor material or element. And a mounting device for mounting a buffing pad or a scrub brush.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor wafer processing, and more particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus used for buffing and cleaning semiconductor wafers.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), used in the semiconductor industry, is typically used to planarize a dielectric coating surface or remove excess metallic coating deposited on a substrate or previously applied coating. Can be In order to perform the planarization, a relatively hard pad material such as polyurethane to which a special filler material is added is used. Wide surface (
In order to planarize the entire surface of the wafer, a softer base layer is generally used. The efficiency of the planarization process is highly dependent on the hardness of the polishing pad that removes the elevated portions of the dielectric coating in the presence of the polishing slurry. Therefore, hard pads are typically used because planarization is the primary purpose of performing CMP. This flattening step is called a main polishing step or a first polishing step.

[0003] Unfortunately, hard polishing pads are not suitable for reducing defects on the polishing surface. From this, a small amount of material can be polished and removed after the main polishing step,
Alternatively, a second platen (polishing table) with a softer polishing pad is used simply to "clean" the wafer surface before feeding it to the cleaning system. This "cleaning" process, which is performed on a separate polishing table, uses DI water,
This step is often called buffing. The additional polishing table on the polishing machine adds complexity, reduces throughput, and increases the footprint of the polishing tool. To avoid these disadvantages, it is desirable to perform all of the wafer cleaning operations outside of the polishing apparatus.

In a typical wafer scrub system, loose slurry particles can be cleanly removed from the wafer surface, and some wafer scrub systems can remove metallic contamination from the wafer surface. In a normal scrubber,
It is not effective in removing small slurry particles that are often buried in the coating.
By removing most of the defects by normal buffing on a soft polishing pad,
Thoroughly clean the polished surface so that it can be scrubbed.

[0005] Thus, by improving the performance of the scrubber and cleaning the wafer after the main CMP step, it is possible to achieve a defect level comparable to that of a two-step CMP process having a main polishing step and a buff polishing step. It is desirable to do.

[0006] The prior art did not apply a wafer scrub system for buffing operations because the pressure and speed of the buffing media was much lower than that required for buffing. Some scrub systems are not suitable for buffing because they hold the edge of the wafer and apply a normal buffing pressure to break the wafer.

The present invention provides an improved wafer cleaning system specifically designed for performing buffing operations. The system allows for processing of wafers with scrubbers having greatly increased pressures and velocities, thus expanding the range of applications. The apparatus can also perform buffing or regular scrubbing at the same station, or at a different station if a suitable chemistry is used, by controlling and changing processing parameters.

[0008]

Summary of the Invention

A system for processing a semiconductor wafer is described. The system includes a buffing station and a scrub station coupled to the buffing station.

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description below and the accompanying drawings, which illustrate various embodiments of the invention. However, this is merely for explanation and understanding, and is not intended to limit the invention to any particular embodiment.

[0010]

[Detailed description of the present invention]

A system for processing a semiconductor wafer will be described. In the following description, numerous details are set forth, such as component materials, velocities, pressures, and the like. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

[0011]

[Overview of the present invention]

The processing sequence for a typical polishing system with two or more platens is one or two major polishing steps on a platen with hard pads and a buffing operation on a platen with soft pads. However, the processing sequence in the present invention newly proposed, only the main polishing step on the polishing apparatus,
Then, a buffing operation is performed on a scrubber having improved performance. By this processing sequence, the throughput of the polishing apparatus can be extremely increased, and the main polishing can be performed using the buff polishing platen.

If a scrubber of this configuration is applied to a single-platen polishing system, wafers of higher quality (less defects) than currently possible can be manufactured.

With such an improvement, the burden on the cleaning process from the polishing apparatus to the cleaning system (scrubber) where it is very natural to perform the cleaning operation is eliminated. Further, due to the use of clean sealed processing chambers and the ability to handle other chemicals, the scrubber environment is more suitable for performing cleaning operations than polishing equipment.
Another advantage of performing the buffing step on the scrubber is that both sides of the wafer can be simultaneously buffed when only the front side is buffed on the polishing apparatus.

The present invention provides a system for processing a semiconductor wafer. In one embodiment, the system includes a buffing station and a scrub station. In one embodiment, two surfaces (eg, opposing surfaces, etc.) of a wafer are simultaneously buffed at a buffing station. In one embodiment, the opposing surfaces of the wafer are buffed at a buffing station, and after the buffing of the wafer is completed, brush scrubbing of both sides of the wafer is performed at a scrubbing station.

In one embodiment, the buffing station includes one or more buffing elements and at least one element positioned by the first assembly. Similarly, the scrub station includes one or more scrub elements and at least one element positioned by the second assembly. And a portion of the first and second assemblies are substantially the same. The buffing and scrubbing elements are processing elements that can also include pads and / or brushes.

In one embodiment, the buffing station can be configured as another scrub station, such as a brush scrub station. In one embodiment, the buffing station includes an assembly configurable to apply various pressures to the semiconductor wafer using processing elements such as brushes, pads, or other buffing media. These various pressures include a first set of pressures sufficient to scrub the semiconductor wafer and a second set of pressures sufficient to buff the semiconductor wafer. Whether scrubbing or buffing at the same station at different times, the appropriate chemistry must be used, if necessary.

The buffing element or medium can be composed of a single layer of PVA material or multiple layers of another material. In one embodiment, the buffing (or treatment) element is formed from a hard, hardened material, such as PET plastic coated with a layer of PVA material on top.
Consist of a chemical resistant material and a soft polishing pad covered with a PVA layer. This configuration allows effective pressure to be applied to the wafer during the buffing process, allows the use of pads with relatively large wafer contact areas, and maintains compatibility of the processing element with standard scrubber configurations. The processing elements in contact with the backside of the wafer can be identical, or can consist of a standard core and a PVA brush commonly used in scrubbers.

The application of pressure during the buffing cycle is achieved by moving the upper processing element relative to the fixed lower processing element along the longitudinal axis. See FIG. 2 and the following description. The wafer is positioned between the processing elements and can receive an effective load without breaking.

The present invention provides a processing box that includes a brush or pad assembly and a positioning assembly. The brush / pad assembly includes a set of pads and / or brushes for buffing and / or cleaning the wafer, and a mechanism for controlling and driving the brushes and / or pads. The positioning assembly of the present invention can also be used to position various components and devices within a processing system. In one embodiment, such components include a wafer transfer device and a wafer handling device, such as rollers, wheels, guides, and one or more robots. For example, US patent application Ser. No. 08 / 705,115, filed Aug. 29, 1996, entitled "Containment A," all of which is assigned to the corporate assignee of the present invention.
pparatus), US Patent Application No. 08 / 705,1 filed August 29, 1996.
62, "A Roller Positioning Apparatus" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08 / 705,161, filed Aug. 29, 1996;
Brush Assembly Apparatus ".

The processing box of the present invention can also be incorporated into a wafer processing system having a plurality of processing stations. For example, a wafer processing system may include one or more stations for buffing and / or cleaning (eg, scrubbing) a substrate. Although the invention has been described in terms of cleaning by brush scrubbing the wafer, wafer cleaning techniques other than scrubbing may be used in one or more processing stations.

The present invention will be described with buffing and scrubbing the wafer,
Any substrate having the same shape as a commonly used substrate can be processed according to the present invention. Further, with respect to a wafer or substrate, a bare or undoped bare or pure semiconductor substrate, a semiconductor substrate having an epitaxial layer, a semiconductor substrate incorporating one or more elements in any of the processing steps, on an insulator. A substrate of another type incorporating one or more devices such as a semiconductor (SOI: semiconductor-on-insulator) device or a substrate for processing another device or device such as a flat panel display, a hard disk, and a multi-chip module. Can be included.

The present invention provides a brush / pad assembly that can operate with higher energy (high pressure and speed) compared to a standard scrub. The system of the present invention can be operated at higher pressures than normally used in prior art scrubbers. In the present invention, during buffing, the system operates at a down pressure of 0.1 to 4 psi (about 0.2 to 20 pounds), or down force and a relative speed of about 40 to 120 feet per minute. . In contrast, with a standard scrubber, about 0.1 to 0.
Operate at a pressure of 5 psi (0.2 to 1 pound) and a relative speed of 5 to 20 feet per minute. In a typical prior art polishing apparatus, 2-4 PSI (
The buffing operation is performed at a down pressure of 100 pounds and a relative speed of 160 to 250 feet per minute.

[0023]

[System example]

FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a double-sided wafer buff polishing apparatus and a scrubber system used in one embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a number of stations. Each of these stations conceptually illustrates one or more steps in the wafer buffing and cleaning process. These stations can also include hardware and software that complete one of the steps in the process. This processing includes steps executed by a system relating to a wafer. In one embodiment, the system can process multiple wafers simultaneously, ie, one or more wafers can be processed at each station at a time.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides an acidic (low pH) cleaning process for a wafer. The main cleaning process may include a hydrogen fluoride (HF) cleaning process. For corrosion resistance, the plastic components in the system are made of PET, acetal (DELRIN), Teflon, polypropylene (polypro).
), Polyurethane and the like, and stainless steel such as Hastelloy C276 can be used for the metallic component. The invention can be applied to other cleaning processes and systems.

It should be noted that the brush assembly of the present invention operates in a processing box that facilitates the use of deionized (DI) water. In one embodiment, the processing box of the present invention is sufficiently capable of flowing different chemicals. For example, hydrogen fluoride (HF) can be flowed into the processing box of the present invention. Importantly, the present invention provides the ability to apply the same pressure as the polishing apparatus, and furthermore, treat all cleaning chemicals.

Load the dirty wafer into one end of the scrubber and remove the cleaned wafer from the other end of the scrubber.

At the load station 110 (also known as the input station), the operator loads the cassette 180 into the scrubber. The cassette 180 stores a large number of dirty wafers. The wafer is automatically transferred from the load station 110 onto the transfer belt 115 and moves to the station 120. Conveyor belt 115
Is moved by the DC motor 193. Wafer 101 represents a dirty wafer that is automatically removed from cassette 180 and positioned on conveyor belt 115.

The station 120 can be configured as a buff polishing apparatus that buffs a wafer as part of a buff polishing process, or can be configured to clean a wafer as part of a cleaning process. When configured as a buffing station (part of the buffing process), station 120 buffs the polished wafer and sprays the polished wafer (not shown, with a stream of water jet) to provide a polished wafer 10.
Remove most of the particles from 2. The pad 121 simultaneously buffs both sides of the polished wafer 102. The height of the upper brush is controlled by a stepper motor (not shown). Rollers 190 rotate the polished wafer 102.

When configured as a brush station (part of the cleaning process), the polished wafer 102 is brushed (sprayed with a jet of water (not shown)) at station 120 to clean Most of the particles are removed from the wafer 102. The brush 121 scrubs both sides of the dirty wafer 102. The position of the upper brush is controlled by a stepper motor (not shown). The rollers 190 rotate the dirty wafer 102. In one embodiment, the bevel area at the edge of the wafer is cleaned using a roller. When there is an operation speed difference between the roller and the wafer, the cleaning can be performed well.

The buffed or already buffed wafer is then automatically transferred to station 130. This is performed by a transport belt 116 controlled by a second DC motor (not shown).

At station 130, the buffed or already buffed wafer 103 is brushed (sprayed with a jet of water, not shown) and sprayed to remove most of the particles from wafer 103. The brush 131 scrubs both sides of the wafer 103 once brushed. The position of the upper brush among the brushes 131 is controlled by the stepper motor 191. When completed, the twice brushed wafer is then automatically moved to the spin and dry station 140 via the transport belt 117.

In the system described above, station 120 is configured as either a brush station for wafer cleaning or a buff polishing station for polishing a wafer, but station 130 is configured as either a brush station or a buff polishing station. You can also.

A spin and dry station 140 rinses, spins and dries the wafer. Wafer 104 represents a wafer that is processed in spin and dry station 140. At this point, the wafer has been cleaned. Certain types of wafers must be wet between load station 110, station 120 and station 130. Only after brushing and rinsing are this type of wafer can be spun and dried. Next, the wafer after spinning and drying is output to output station 150.
Move to

In the output station 150, the cleaned wafers are stored in the cassette 18.
Store in one. The wafer 105 represents a cleaned wafer stored in the cassette 181. When full of washed wafers, cassette 181 is removed by the operator. Thus, the cleaning process is completed.

The control system housing 170 houses a number of components that comprise the heart of the control system of the present scrubber. Control system housing 170 includes a host cage 171 having a host board 172. Host board 172
Has overall control of the scrubber. Host board 172 typically includes one or more host processors executing in one or more physical packages.
The host cage 171 serves as a support member for the host board 172 and other boards in the host cage (for example, a sensor input board, an operator display video card 160, and a board for signal communication from the host board 172 to the remaining control systems). ing.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the brush box 105. Brush box 106
Are substantially identical. Referring to FIG. 2, the brush box 105 includes a brush assembly 210 having a scrub brush for simultaneously scrubbing both surfaces of the wafer, and a brush driving mechanism 21 having a brush pivot point 213.
4 is included. These are described in detail below. The brush driving mechanism 214 is connected to the driving brush 211, which will be described in detail below.

Note that brush box 105 also includes inner chamber drain 201. The outer chamber drain 202 corresponding to the drain in the base container 113 is also shown. The brush box 105 also
It includes the exhaust pipe 203 described above. All drains include a seal known in the art. Each seal may include a leak detection device. In one embodiment, the outer chamber drain 202 is formed by polypropylene.

The brush box 105 also includes an inlet 111. The inlet 111 is a passage through which the wafer is sent. The brush box 105 is also shown to incorporate rollers, such as rollers 230, and spray heads 205 and 206 for spraying a cleaning solution onto the wafer as the wafer exits the brush box 105. In one embodiment, the spray head is mounted at the entrance and exit of the brush box and at the exit of the brush box 106. In an alternative embodiment, a spray head can be mounted at the entrance of brush box 106. Techniques for using spray heads and jets are well known in the art.

The brush box 105 also houses a roller positioning assembly 220 that positions a roller, such as the roller 230, with respect to the wafer to be cleaned between the brushes 221 and 212. In one embodiment, brushes 211 and 212 each include a plastic core and a PVA section covered with a pad material. Examples of the roller positioning assembly 220 are described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 2, there is no penetration except for the exhaust and drain at the bottom of the chamber. Penetrations through the chamber are on both sides. By having a penetration only from the side, less sealing is required and the possibility of leakage is reduced. this is,
It is particularly suitable for systems using highly acidic chemicals.

[0041]

【Brush assembly】

3A and 3B show perspective views of the upper and lower brush assemblies of brush assembly 510, respectively. 4A and 4D show a top view of the upper and lower brush assemblies, respectively, and a cross-sectional view of the upper and lower brush assemblies. Note that the actual brush assembly itself (except for the drive mechanism) is well known in the art. Although FIGS. 3A and 3B, and FIGS. 4A and 4D, show a brush, the assembly may be configured for pads for buffing, scrubbing, or other processing. Each brush has
A number of protrusions (not shown) are included to facilitate cleaning of the wafer. In one embodiment, the upper and lower brushes are configured to supply a fluid to the brush core and discharge it from the brush surface to the outside of the brush. Such brushes and fluid supply systems will not be described in detail here. For a description of exemplary brushes and more information on systems for delivering fluids through brushes, see US Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 542,531, filed October 13, 1995, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. No. "Method and apparatus for supplying chemicals through a brush (Method and Apparatus for Chemical Delivery Through the
Brush)].

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, and FIGS. 4A and 4D, each brush core can be replaced with another material suitable for buffing the pad roller assembly or wafer. In this manner, each brush assembly may be configured as a buff polishing assembly for buffing one or more target wafers. In this case, like a brush, the buffing pad roller assembly is designed to distribute fluid from its core to the outside of the pad through the pad surface.

The material used for the brush comprises a PVA or polyurethane type material.
The top brush or the bottom brush can be the same or different materials. In an alternative embodiment, the material comprises a combination of a PVA or polyurethane type material to the upper polishing pad. The shape of the brush can be cylindrical or in such a case a planar PVA brush. In another embodiment, the planar PVA brush can be covered with a soft polishing pad.

In another embodiment of a buffing station, a pad assembly comprising a substantially planar or plate-like rotating pad is used to buff a wafer placed on a planar carrier. You can also. This configuration can also be used for higher pressures corresponding to some buffing operations. In one embodiment, such a pad assembly can include a suba IV or other polishing pad. When using a flat pad, there is no need for the lower brush.
In this case, the wafer must still be rotated. However, in this configuration, only one side of the wafer is processed at a time.

In one embodiment, the present invention controls the contact area that occurs between the brush and the wafer by selecting a different technology material. The location of the brush core and the compressibility of the material determine the applied contact area and pressure. Thus, by selecting a brush or pad having a particular compressibility with the same brush core, the contact area can be changed.

FIGS. 3A, 4A and 4C show one embodiment of the upper brush. The rotating arms 301 and 302 are connected to an upper brush lift drive (one on each side of the brush box) and, in response, pivot the upper brush assembly 300 toward and away from the wafer. The pivot point for rotating the upper brush core 301 is positioned at the center of the rotation axis of the drive shaft 310. The amount of rotation relative to the wafer affects the amount of pressure applied to the wafer, which is a design choice based on the requirements of the cleaning process. Note that this pivoting movement is inherent in the brush box. During the turning operation, the lower brush assembly 350 is stationary (because it is attached to the brush box and the storage wall).

The rotating arm 331 is connected to the upper brush core 301 via a hexagonal axis such as a hexagonal axis 304 and a link 305. The rotating arm 302 is connected to the upper brush core 301 via a link 306. The rotating arm 302 rotates coaxially around the drive shaft so that rotation of the drive shaft 310 does not rotate the upper brush. As shown, the rotating arm 302 is connected to a drive shaft feedthrough 370 that is itself rotatable. In one embodiment, each lift drive includes a stepper motor (not shown to avoid obscuring the invention) and includes a rotating arm 3.
It operates by pushing up the ends of 31 and 302. Thus, during the cleaning process, the upper brush core 301 is swung downwardly on the upper surface of the wafer. As each drive is lowered, the rotating arms 331 and 302 pivot the upper brush core 301 away from the wafer. In an alternative embodiment, a lift lever is used to move upper brush core 301 closer to or away from the wafer surface. Also, by coupling the stepper motor on the rotating arm, the upper brush assembly 300 can be swiveled, except for the control acting in the opposite direction.

The brush core 301 can be applied to the wafer by controlling the brush positioning device that applies the brush core 301 to the wafer at various pressures. In other words, because the brushes are physically connected, the brushes are physically moved (depressed), unlike prior art motion based loads. By pushing up the rotating arms 331 and 302 with a large force from the stepper motor, the brush core 301 is applied to the wafer with increased pressure. The increase in pressure is due to a mechanical ratio. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the pressure to apply a brush core to an 8-inch wafer using a stepper motor when positioning the brush core with the prior art system and when positioning the brush core with the system of the present invention. The finer steps of the present invention can produce greater brush motion than in the prior art. As shown, the amount of pressure applied is four to five times greater than in the prior art. The increased pressure applied by the present invention can remove particles buried in the scrub. In addition to the increased pressure, the use of an HF-based process results in an overall better cleaning process.

When the brush assembly is used for scrubbing (cleaning), the wafer or a part of the surface may be buffed. Further, the present invention can be adapted to buff only one side of the substrate. However, unlike the prior art, the present invention can simultaneously buff both sides of the substrate.

Thus, the brush assembly of the present invention can provide a pressure suitable for a buffing system. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, a double-sided buffing / cleaning system, wherein a first set of brush boxes (one or more) in a storage is used for buffing and a subsequent brush box (one or more) is used for wafer scrubbing. Processing system can be provided.

FIG. 3C shows one of the rotating arms 331 and 302 and a coupler 320 for coupling to a stepper drive positioned to operate under the rotating arm. When the coupler 320 is at the uppermost position, the brush core 301 is applied to the wafer, and when it is at the lowermost position, the brush core 301 pivots away from the wafer. When the stepper motor is located on the rotating arm, the movement of the coupler 320 is reversed to obtain the same brush core movement.

A set of through bushes 303 is used to maintain the position of the shaft feedthroughs 370 and 372 and the upper brush assembly 300 relative to the brush container 113,
And, fix the upper brush assembly to the side of the brush box. In this manner, the through bushing 303 is used as part of the connection of the upper brush assembly 300 to the brush box and brush container 113. Also, a support unit for the brush box can be used to add stability. That is, it must support a higher load and a higher speed than the support unit.

The through bush 303 also provides a seal between the internal cavity of the brush box and the outside of the brush box housing. The use of through bushes is well known in the art. In one embodiment, the through bush is made from T-500 manufactured by IGUS, East Province, RI.

Using independent links 305 and 306, the drive and brush assembly 3
00 is connected to the brush core 301.

The drive shaft 310 is connected to a motor (not shown) that drives and rotates the upper brush core 301 using the flexible connector 309. In one embodiment, the flexible coupler 309 is coupled to the drive shaft 310 via a stainless steel (or other acid resistant material) shaft reducer.

The rotational motion that the motor supplies to the drive shaft 310 is supplied to the brush core 301 via a set of gears. (Note that the shaft feedthrough for both the upper brush assembly 300 and the lower brush assembly allows the drive shafts 310 and 360 to rotate freely in response to actuation of the drive shaft drive motor.)
2 is connected to the drive shaft 310. The drive gear 311 is connected to the bush core 01. The idle gear 312 and the drive gear 311 are in contact with each other via their teeth. When rotating the drive shaft 310, the idle gear 312 rotates. Next, idle gear 3
Twelve rotational movements are transferred to drive gear 311 in a manner well known in the art. Note that gear size is a design choice. In one embodiment, idler gear 312 and drive gear 311 each have 66 teeth, a pitch of 24, and a diameter of 2.7.
5 inches.

The size of the idler and the drive gear relative to each other can vary. Changing these rates is beneficial to give different speed differences. Such a speed difference is important for cleaning the edge using a spin roller. Also, while driving the upper brush assembly 300 with a gear is shown, the gear can be replaced with a belt.

In one embodiment, a gear guard is used to cover the gear to keep out particles from the cleaning process and to prevent particles from the gear from fouling the wafer.

The reaction pin 307 is connected to the reaction core 308 near one end of the bush core 301. The present invention provides a reaction pin 307 and a reaction core 308 for easily detaching the brush core 301. In this manner, the brush core 301 can be removed for maintenance or repair. When the reaction pin 307 is moved downward from the position in FIG. 3A to the left, the reaction core 308 partially positioned inside the brush core 301 is pulled out of the brush core 301. The brush core 301 can be detached from the link 305 by the amount by which the reaction core 308 is pulled out from the brush core 301. Such a movement separates the other end of the brush core 301 from the link 306, so that the movement partially extends into the brush core 301. Once in this position, the brush core 301 can be removed from the brush box.

Referring back to FIGS. 3B, 4B and 4D, the lower brush assembly 35
0 is the same as the upper brush assembly 300 because the lower brush assembly 35
0 includes a brush core 351 and a through bush 353, and the lower brush assembly 3
50 is fixed to the brush box and the brush container 113. A flexible coupler 359 is coupled to the drive shaft 360. The flexible coupler 359 connects the driving motor to the driving shaft 360 to drive the lower brush core 351.

The lower brush assembly 350 also includes a reaction pin 357, which
By removing the reaction core 358 positioned inside the brush core 351,
It operates similarly to the reaction pin 307. Thus, the brush core 351 can be removed from the brush box.

The lower brush assembly 350 is driven directly by a motor via a flexible coupler 359, but in an alternative embodiment, the lower brush 350 is driven by the same motor driving the upper brush 300 through the use of gears. Note that it can also be driven by In one embodiment, four gears are used to drive the lower brush core with the same motor driving the upper brush core. In such an embodiment, a drive gear connected to the brush core may be driven by idler gear 312 and / or drive shaft 310. Use only one motor to reduce the number of penetrations to the brush box. This is advantageous in the strongly acidic cleaning process described above.

After reading the foregoing description, many alternatives and modifications to the present invention will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that the various embodiments shown and described by way of illustration are not intended to be limiting. Accordingly, references to details of various embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which recite only those features deemed essential to the invention.

Thus, a scrub / buff polishing assembly apparatus has been described.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view exemplarily showing a scrubber system.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of the brush box and a part of the brush box storage device.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an embodiment of the upper brush assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of an embodiment of the lower brush assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3C is an illustration showing an embodiment of the connection for attachment to a rotating arm and a drive.

FIG. 4 is a top view of an example of an upper and lower brush assembly and a cross-sectional view of an example of an upper and lower brush assembly.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the pressure at which a brush is applied to a wafer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 to 104 wafer 101 to 106 brush box 110 load station 111 inlet 113 brush container 113 base container 115 to 117 transport belt 120 station 121 pad 121 brush 130 station 131 brush 140 spin And Dry Station 150 ... Output Station 160 ... Video Card for Operator Display 170 ... Control System Housing 171 ... Host Cage 172 ... Host Board 180,181 ... Cassette 190 ... Roller 191 ... Stepper Motor 193 ... DC Motor 201 ... Inner Chamber Drain 202 ... Outer chamber drain 203 ... Exhaust pipe 205 ... Spray head 210 ... Brush assembly 211 ... B 213: brush pivot point 214: brush drive mechanism 220: assembly 221: brush 230: roller 300: brush assembly 301: brush core 302: rotating arm 303: through bush 304: hexagonal shaft 305, 306: link 307: reaction pin 308 ... reaction core 309 ... flexible connector 310 ... drive shaft 311 ... drive gear 312 ... gear 320 ... connector 331 ... rotary arm 350 ... lower brush 351 ... brush core 353 ... through bush 357 ... reaction pin 358 ... reaction core 359 ... Flexible coupler 360 ... Drive shaft 370 ... Drive shaft feedthrough 370 ... Shaft feedthrough 510 ... Brush assembly

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Delarios John M. United States 94303 California Palo Alto, Roma Verde, 941 (72) Inventor Jean Shiouhua United States 95133, California San Jose, Marie Caroline Coat, 2970 (72) Inventor Gockel Thomas Earl. United States 95355 California Modest, Burwood Drive, 2513 F-term (reference) 3B116 AA03 AB01 AB34 BA02 BA14 BB21 CC01 CC03 3C058 AA06 AA07 CB10 DA12 DA18

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A system for processing semiconductor wafers, comprising: a buff polishing station; and a scrub station coupled to the buff polishing station. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said scrub station comprises a brush scrubber station. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said buffing station is a station for simultaneously buffing opposing surfaces of a wafer. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said buffing station is a station for buffing both sides of a wafer simultaneously, and said scrubbing station is said buffing station has completed buffing said wafer. And a brush scrubbing station on the opposite side of the wafer simultaneously. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein said buffing station is another scrub station. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein said another scrub station comprises a brush scrub station. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the buffing station comprises at least one buffing element positioned by a first assembly, and the scrub station is positioned by a second assembly. A system comprising at least one scrub element, wherein the first assembly and the second assembly have substantially identical portions. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one of said buff polishing elements is positioned by said first assembly to press against a wafer surface at a pressure in a range of approximately 0.1 to 4 psi. 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said buffing station comprises a wafer positioning assembly for rotating said buffing element at approximately 40 to 120 feet per minute. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the buffing station rotates at least one of the buffing elements while rotating the buffing element at approximately 40 to 120 feet per minute.
One is a station that presses one against a wafer surface at a pressure in the range of approximately 0.1 to 4 psi. 11. A method for processing a semiconductor wafer, comprising: buffing a wafer at a first station of the system; transferring the wafer to a second station of the system after buffing; And scrubbing said wafer in a second station following said station. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of buffing the wafer includes simultaneously buffing a plurality of surfaces of the wafer. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of surfaces of the wafer are opposing sides of the wafer. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein in the step of buffing the wafer, the buffing element is pressed against the wafer surface at a pressure in the range of approximately 0.1 to 4 psi. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein in the polishing step, the buff polishing element is rotated at a speed within a range of approximately 40 to 120 feet per minute while pressing the buff polishing element. 16. The method of claim 14, wherein said pressure comprises a downward pressure. 17. An improvement to a system for processing a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising: a first set of pressures sufficient to scrub the semiconductor wafer; and a first set of pressures sufficient to buff the semiconductor wafer. An improvement in a system comprising an assembly that can apply a plurality of pressures, including two sets, to the semiconductor wafer via a processing element. 18. The improvement of claim 17, wherein the processing element comprises a pad. 19. The improvement of claim 17, wherein the processing element comprises a brush. 20. A system for buffing a semiconductor wafer, comprising: a container; a first pad coupled to the container for buffing a first side of the wafer; and a buffing second side of the wafer. A second pad to be connected to the container and the second pad, thereby positioning the second pad with respect to the wafer, and positioning the second pad with the first pad and the second pad. A pad positioning assembly for buffing two surfaces of the wafer simultaneously.